“I am leaving this for Mrs. Marsh,” he said; “she will understand everything when she reads it. Are you ready?”
Gretel nodded.
“Come along, then; I have a taxi waiting at the door.”
Gretel’s heart was beating very fast as she followed her brother into the elevator, but she did not ask any questions until they had left the apartment-house, and were rattling away in a taxi. Percy had given the chauffeur an address, but Gretel was too much astonished and bewildered by this sudden turn of affairs to notice what it was. But when her brother suddenly began to laugh his pleasant, jolly laugh, and put his arm round her again, she began to realize that this was a most exciting adventure, and, moreover, that she was not at all frightened.
“Well, that’s over!” exclaimed Mr. Douane, in a tone of unmistakable relief. “We actually succeeded in getting away without encountering the ogress. How do you like being carried off in this sudden fashion, Gretel?”
“I think I’m beginning to like it,” said Gretel, whose spirits were rising rapidly, “but where are we going, and who is the ogress?”
“We are going first to the ‘Gotham’—the hotel where I am putting up for the present. Later we are going to Virginia.”
“Virginia!” repeated Gretel, staring at her brother in blank amazement. “You said last night that you were going to Virginia, but—but I never thought I was going with you.”
“Well, you are—that is unless you have any very serious objections. I have got to look after some property of my grandfather’s, and have decided to take you along with me. We will stay at Old Point Comfort; you will like it there, and it is only a few miles from my old home. You know I lived in Virginia with my grandfather for some years before I went to China. It will be fine to get away from these cold March winds; I’m not accustomed to cold weather in Hong-Kong. What do you think of my plan?”
“It’s the most exciting thing that ever happened to me,” declared Gretel, who was still both looking and feeling decidedly bewildered. “I feel as if I must be dreaming, but—but I’m afraid I can’t go without some more clothes. I didn’t even bring a tooth-brush.”